McGuigan jumps to defence of Flintoff as debut ends in victory

Former England cricket star Flintoff recovered from a second-round knockdown to claim a debut points victory against limited American novice Richard Dawson over four two-minute rounds at the Manchester Arena.

The 34-year-old’s preparations for the bout were charted in a Sky television documentary, causing many in the boxing fraternity to question his motives for stepping into the ring.

Those looking to chastise Flintoff were given further ammunition as a crude, scrappy contest predictably developed – not that it seemed too much of a concern for the boisterous 6,000-strong crowd in attendance, who were vocally behind their hero throughout.

Respected former WBA featherweight champion McGuigan, who oversaw the ex-Lancashire all-rounder’s painstaking four-and-a-half month training camp alongside son and trainer Shane, had nothing but high praise for Flintoff but turned his fire on critics afterwards. “We never belittled the sport,” he said. “We were never in this, in any way, to belittle boxing. Those who said that were idiots.

“We’re in this to show how serious he was about it.

“We never pretended that he was anything other than a novice but we told everyone he was going to give it everything he’s got and I think in the fight he showed that.

“He was knocked down, he got up, showed pluck and courage. His technique went out of the window because he wanted to win so much and had the crowd behind him.

“But it was honest. Everything about what we’ve done over the past four and a half months was honest.

“He’s a generous, genuine fella and I think this was a personal battle for him too – he wanted to show that he had the courage to go through with something like this and I think he won that battle.”

Flintoff, added: “This whole process was never about degrading boxing.

“We wanted to do it properly, which we’ve done.”

Tyson Fury moved a step closer to a shot at Vitali Klitschko with a patient victory over American Kevin Johnson in Belfast.

The 24-year-old won the WBC world heavyweight title eliminator by a unanimous points decision, stretching his unbeaten record to 20 fights.

The first five rounds were largely uninspiring, and Fury was rarely troubled by his durable 33-year-old opponent, whose 2009 defeat to Klitschko was one of only two setbacks prior to this bout.

Fury said: “Credit Kevin Johnson, he’s a slippery, slippery guy and I never went in to knock him out. He’s not a guy to go and smash up. He’s a world class fighter. I boxed to a game plan.”